Tête de faune aux rubansRibboned head of faunus*(or maybe it's just 'creature')

Tête d'un satyre aux cornes nouées[Satyr's head with tied horns]

Masque feuillagé d'homme grimaçant[grimacing masked man with foliage]

Tête de satyre à la guirlande[Satyr with head garland]

(click through for enlarged versions; some of the library stamps have been removed or attenuated)

This striking set of hirsute heads was produced in the second half of the 17th century by a French engraver named François Chauveau. It's as though he has travelled forward in time to select elements from Chewbacca / Planet of the Apes & Star Trek (Worf) to combine with the motif popularised during the Renaissance, the grotesque. So there's a certain charming naivety and abstraction to the works suggesting they may be early versions for a later, more sophisticated, suite of prints perhaps. We don't know the designer so it's hard to say.

Chauveau was a renowned engraver with royal pension and favour among his peers. A selection of more than a hundred and fifty of his prints, covering a wide variety of themes, is available from the Joconde portal, on behalf of a number of contributing French institutions.

3 comments
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I've been out with guys like this. just kidding. I am so sorry the artist's name was not Cheveaux - but then that would be asking too much. These characters are very reminiscent of The Green Man, a creature of nature, the dark wood and spirit. Cheers, biblio.